Music
The Songs We Can't Escape
5ingles
ALLA
"Una Dia Otra Noche"
Give 'em a couple of albums, and this Chicago group could develop into the Spanish-language answer to Stereolab. The potential's sure there: robo string sections, bossa nova tempos, keyboards aplenty, and frontlady Lupe Martinez—a steady fount of mountain-stream-cool "ooo"s and "la-la-la"s.
DOMINIQUE LEONE
"The Return"
Record crit dude cobbles together omnivorous, mind-blowing avant-pop for other record crits (and everyone else, if everyone else has the sense to check out his seamless genre-smashing). In other words: Dude, isn't Cornelius just totally fucking awesome?
PONYTAIL
"Beg Waves"
These youngish Baltimorians treat splashy art-rock like a frenetic bull-roarer swing, all Sherwin-Williams melodic vim; thunderous, noisy vigor; and Molly Siegel's nails-on-sandpaper screech harnessed and unleashed in service of some quintessential, forever-out-of-reach ideal of immediacy. Silver Jews frontman David Berman once remarked: "All my favorite singers couldn't sing."
PRODIGY
"Dirty New Yorker"
The half of Mobb Deep with even a smidgen of future potential contributes a generic gangsta C-side to the latest entry in the Grand Theft Auto franchise. Nothing quite says, "Where's my check?" like "Baby mama, let's slide on the floor/I'm a pro with the flow."
RELIGIOUS KNIVES
"Twelve Bottles and One White Cone, Part 2"
Drone merchants Double Leopards broke up, so we can't call this particular, related gaggle of Brooklynites a side project anymore. Religious Knives have gone more rock/less noise of late, here humping lopsided organs and guitar gristle into a sweaty, greasy groove.